Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, the judge said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The plot was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, many his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The judges found that the protesters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the moment, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.
